Enchanted Winter
by Allanna Stone
Summary: After the sudden and tragic death of their mother, Elsa and Anna go off on an adventure to look for their fathers…
1. Chapter 1

**Enchanted Winter**

**I do not own Atlantis or Frozen.**

**SUMMARY:**

**After the sudden and tragic death of their mother, Elsa and Anna go off on an adventure to look for their fathers…**

_Cairo Egypt, 1917_

It started out as being an ordinary day for my sister, Anna and I. It ended in tragedy and sadness.

Anna was first to wake up (as usual) bounced me out of bed singing about snowmen.

"Seriously Anna?" I grouched, picking myself up off the floor. "Why'd you wake me up before the freaking chickens?"

She giggled at me before tossing my clothes at me.

"Get dressed! Today mother's taking us to the tomb of Cleopatra!" she shouted before bounding out of our shared room.

That woke me up.

After dressing myself in a pale blue cotton dress and braided back my platinum blonde curls out of my ice blue eyes, I went and found Anna in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. I was thankful that mother was a deep sleeper, otherwise she'd be up and grumpy at Anna for making all kinds of racket.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" my younger sister greeted me with a beaming smile and I couldn't help but grin back at her as I wandered over to the icebox and took out the ingredients for eggs. Anna was flipping blueberry pancakes while whistling a merry little tune- I quickly realized that the song was the one she would sing to me every morning to get me up out of bed.

"_Snowmen love summer_…" I sang along with her. "You know, that song never made any sense for me…"

Anna giggled again as she flipped a pancake.

"You need to stop analyzing everything, Elsa!" she scolded me as mother appeared at the door to the kitchen.

"Morning girls," she kissed both of us on our heads before accepting the cup of coffee that Anna already made for her.

"Morning, mother," we both chorused as Anna dished up the pancakes and I flipped the eggs onto the plates.

"Are you two ready for today?" mother asked us in an upbeat voice as we all ate our breakfast.

Anna bobbed her head up and down because her mouth was full of food while I answered for the both of us.

"Yes, we are very excited!" I shot my sister a look which she stuck her tongue out at.

"That's enough, you two!" mother scolded us, shaking her head as we both quickly finished up our meal and took the dishes in to be cleaned by our live in maid, Kitty.

"You ladies go, I'll clean the kitchen for you," clucked the grandmotherly woman, shooing the three of us out the door.

"See you later, Kitty!" Anna and I called out to her as mother ushered us towards her automobile. Anna and I both sat in the backseat so that mother could shift the car into gear without worrying about the two of us.

"I can't wait to see the hieroglyphics!" I squealed as we bounced up and down in the little automobile.

"Me either!" Anna agreed happily.

Within no time at all, the three of us arrived at the site of the tomb, which was a hidden cave on the Nile River. Anna and I both spilled out of the automobile and began to poke about, asking archaeologists questions about what they had found.

"Elsa! Anna! Stay close to me!" mother called out and we raced to her just as a man approached us.

"Miss McGrath, Miss Elsa, Miss Anna," he greeted the three of us with a smile.

"Robert, how many times must I tell you to call me Lisa?" mother tittered as Anna and I looked at each other and grinned. "Come along now, girls- I'm going to show you some booby traps that were effective in stopping grave robbers…"

Anna and I both followed mother inside the tomb, ducking and holding our breaths when she told us to and following her every command.

"Is this it?" Anna whispered when we were finally in front of a stone door with a seal and hieroglyphics.

I squinted my eyes in the lighting and saw that the hieroglyphics spelled out:

**THE TOMB OF CLEOPATRA**

There was more, however Anna and I were both to o excited to stand still. Mother and Robert both opened the tomb and everyone gasped.

"Oh my…" I whispered faintly. All Anna could do was stare with her eyes the size of teacup saucers.

"Look at all this gold!" I whispered, fingering a gold collar with emeralds and rubies.

"After over a decade, we finally found it, Robert!" mother cheered, hugging the two of us.

"I'll have to admit it- even though I thought it was crazy talk, with having a lady like you talking me into funding this expedition, I never escepted to see this in my entire life!" Robert said in an awestruck voice

"You know the rules, girls- pick four pieces of jewelry that you want and you can keep them!" mother reminded us and we happily began to poke about, holding up pieces for us to admire and try on before settling on what we wanted.

I was first to spy it.

The sarcophagus of Cleopatra.

"Mother!" I shouted.

She came running with Robert right behind her and gapsed at what I had found.

Robert turned and barked Arabic at his team of workers to be careful with carrying everything out to be categorized.

"_Peter, be careful with that table- Miss McGrath will have my head if it's so much as got a tiny scratch!_" he bellowed at one worker.

"Mr. Robert?" I asked him gently. "That's not a table- that's a bed."

He turned a deep red color, making mama, Anna and I giggled a little.

"Right, terribly sorry then…" he coughed a few times to clear his throat before turning to us with a giant smile on his face. "Well, you did it!"

"And we couldn't be any more prouder!" mother beamed happily before leading us out of the tomb. For some reason, but we couldn't go out the way we came in- we had to take a different route.

"I hate heights, I hate heights," Anna whimpered as we all walked across a board that was set over a pit about ten feet deep with sharp spikes at the bottom. She screamed as the board wobbled a bit before darting over to the other side, where I gave her a hug and stroked her hair in an effort to calm her down.

"Alright- shall we, now?" mother asked us in a perky voice as we all followed her out into the sun, where we all squinted from being side a dark tomb for the better part of the morning.

Anna's stomach rumbled just then.

"Hungry, are we?" mother teased Anna gently as my little sister turned cherry red. "Come along, the mess tent is this way!"

Before we could take another step, mother began to cough and as the three of us turned to face her, she pulled her hand away from her mouth and stared at it in horror.

Her hand was drenched in blood.


	2. Chapter 2

**Enchanted Winter**

**I do not own Atlantis or Frozen.**

**SUMMARY:**

**After the sudden and tragic death of their mother, Elsa and Anna go off on an adventure to look for their fathers…**

_Cairo Egypt, 1917_

Anna and I both stood next to the doors of the Cairo Museum of History, our heads bowed with grief as the curator talked about the remarkable find that mother was a part of.

"It is with great sorrow in my heart that I remind everyone that Miss Lisa McGrath is not with us today, but that she is in the Holy Land." He kissed the pendant in his hands. "May Allah bless her."

I was so distressed after mother's death that I'd taken to locking myself in Anna and my shared bedroom for hours at end, making little flurries of snowflakes appear and disappear at random intervals.

Two weeks after mother's death and the museum's grand opening of their Cleopatra exhibit, did Robert offer to adopt us.

"I'm not asking for you to call me 'papa' or anything," he told us after the funeral. "It's just that after my wife and son died in an accident, my estate had been much too quiet for a young man like me."

Anna and I both agreed that it would be for the best if we went to live with the wealthy Englishman, if not forever, then until we were able to figure thing out.

A few days after making our decision, Robert came to tell us that he had secured three tickets for England.

"Your mother was a remarkable woman," he told us while we were packing everything we owned (which wasn't much) into two small suitcases. "We met when you, Anna were five and you, Elsa were eight."

"You met at the university, didn't you?" Anna piped in, folding a dress.

"Yes," Robert answered in a broken voice.

"You loved her," I quietly whispered, wiping a tear from my eye.

He sighed before looking up at us.

"Yes," he answered.

~oOo~

Anna and I were woken up early the next morning and stumbled about our rooms, getting dressed in the dark room.

"You ladies ready?" Robert asked us as we both said goodbye to the home we grew up in.

"Yes," Anna answered for the both of us before jumping into Robert's rented automobile. I looked back at the house and sighed heavily. Kitty had been given another job and the house had been sold for a rather large sum of money, which Robert told us belonged to Anna and I.

The ride to the boat port was silent as I stared out the back window, saying goodbye to the Egypt I grew up living in.

When we finally boarded our boat, Robert showed us to our first class cabin, which Anna and I were to share. He had another cabin next to us in case we needed anything.

"Here are menus in case you're hungry- just pull this bell and a waiter will be us to take your order down to the kitchen," he was explaining to us. Anna and I were excited to be on a boat, but at the same time we were both sad that we were leaving our homeland, but we could both tell that Robert was trying to cheer us both up.

Suddenly a loud horn was blaring, making Anna jump into the air and me yelping as I covered my ears.

"Good God, was that supposed to be that loud?" Anna muttered as she stuck a finger into her ear and jiggled it around a bit.

Robert chuckled.

"That's the disembarkment horn," he explained as he led up to the main deck, where we could see the docks of Egypt. "It means the boat will be casting off soon."

Anna and I both stood with our eyes planted on Egypt, painting every detail to memory as the boat slowly pushed off its dock and began it's journey to England.


	3. Chapter 3

**Enchanted Winter**

**I do not own Atlantis or Frozen.**

**SUMMARY:**

**After the sudden and tragic death of their mother, Elsa and Anna go off on an adventure to look for their fathers…**

_England, 1917_

I spent most of the boat trip with my head hanging over the edge of the boat, too sick to even move much. Lucky Anna could be found exploring the boat happily, free of boat sick-ness.

When England was spotted, I couldn't be any happier. Spending two weeks throwing up the insides of your stomach was no fun. I was so sick that Robert had to carry me off the boat and place me inside his own personal automobile before returning for the luggage and Anna, who was off saying goodbye to her new friends, I think that's what she told me before I started retching up the stew we had that morning.

When I opened my eyes, my stomach was no longer doing daring gymnastics and I was in a room with Anna sound asleep in the bed across from me.

"You're lucky," I grumbled as I got out of bed and went over to open the widow, letting in a fresh stream of sunlight.

Anna woke up with a sleepy yawn, stretching and rolling out of bed.

"Morning, Elsa!" she greeted me cheerfully. "How did you sleep last night?"

"I had to oddest dream last night," I answered, remembering the vivid blue light that filled my dreams, along with a voice.

I quickly filled Anna in as we both got ready for the day by dressing in nice dresses (purple for Anna and teal for me) and braiding each other's hair. Once that was done, we both went to find the dining room.

When at last we located the room, we saw Robert was waiting for us while reading the newspaper.

"Good morning Elsa, Anna," he greeted us with a smile before motioning for us to sit. Once we were situated, a maid came out with plates of eggs, hash browns, pancakes and bacon and handed us each something to eat. I ate in a ladylike fashion while Anna stuffed her face full. I was too embarrassed to look at Robert after my sister let loose a giant belch.

"Anna…" I groaned, hiding my face in my hands.

"What?" she asked with a quizzical look on her face.

I shook my head as I dabbed at my mouth, wincing as she went to use her sleeve, but a gentle cough from Robert made her reconsider and use her napkin too, only in a less graceful manner.

"I hope you ladies don't mind, but I planned an evening at the opera tonight," Robert informed us with a small smile, making us both start to squeal. Anna and I had always wanted to go to an opera! "And I was hoping you would go out and do some shopping today, I highly doubt that you have anything lovely to wear tonight."

Anna gasped and I winced. My little sister loved shopping. Robert must've seen the look on my face because he told us that we had an allowance of nine hundred pounds each for our shopping trip today.

"Come on, Elsa!" Anna yelled, grabbing me by the hand and towing me out of the dining room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Enchanted Winter**

**I do not own Atlantis or Frozen.**

**SUMMARY:**

**After the sudden and tragic death of their mother, Elsa and Anna go off on an adventure to look for their fathers…**

_England, 1917_

That shopping trip had me tired within the first ten minutes.

I managed the money, as how Anna had a tendency to go all over the place and pull things that weren't practical for everyday, but at the end of four hours, we each had four new dresses, hair ribbons, two pairs of nice boots and a few other accessories.

When we arrived back at Robert's manor estate, we both handed off our bags to a maid, who scurried to have our new items laid out for us after we had finished getting ready for a night out at the opera.

Anna and I both soaked in a long bubble bath in a tub big enough to swim in while maids washed our hair clean.

"What opera do you think we're going to see tonight?" Anna asked me, bouncing up anmd down in the tub, making water splash out of the tub and getting the maids wet. I sent a glare at my hyper sister, but the maids laughed it off, saying that they enjoyed her bubbly personality.

"I haven't the faintest clue Anna; I've didn't have the time to look at the paper today to see what was playing," I informed her, diving under to rinse the soap from my hair.

When I emerge once more, Anna asked "Why?"

I rolled my eyes as I climbed out, accepting the silk robe that one of the maids held out for me to slip into. "Because I was busy keeping you from spending all of Robert's money on little trinkets and bobbles!"

Anna sulked before following my lead to dive under to wash the soap from her hair, only she accidently inhaled bubbles and water.

"Anna!" I shrieked as she came up choking out water. She paddled over to where I was standing and hoisted herself out, breathing heavily.

"I'm fine, Elsa," she wheezed as the maids hurried over with helping hands and a robe for her as well.

"Don't ever scare me like that ever again!" I scolded her as we both entered our bedroom to choose which dress to wear to the opera that night.

"Sorry." Anna's attention shifted as she bounded over to her bed to pick between four new dresses.

I already knew which dress I wanted to wear- it was a stunning teal blue with three quarter sleeves, silver embroidery and a modestly cut neckline.

I handed off the dress to a maid to be washed and pressed while I got ready. I rolled my eyes at Anna, who didn't know which dress she wanted to wear. She was torn between two green dresses, one a deep forest green with purple embroidery and the other pale green with a wide silk sash.

"Anna," I called her attention over to me as I crossed the room and lifted the one with purple embroidery from her arms. "Wear this one- it showcases your smile the best."

Anna beamed at me before handing her dress of to be washed and pressed as well before sitting down in front of the vanity to brush her hair. I finger combed my hair, humming softly as the memory of mom brushing and braiding our hair before bed came flooding back to me.

"I miss her," Anna sniffled.

"Me too," I told her sadly before chuckling. "I remember one time with she accidently braided us together!"

Anna laughed outright at the memory, which we both used to tease mom about whenever she would do our hair.

"Excuse me?"

Anna and I both turned to see a grandmotherly maid standing in the doorway with a bright smile on her face.

"Miss Elsa, Miss Anna, I am Mary," she introduced herself, shuffling into our room. "I am to do your hair for tonight and all other occasions."

"Just don't braid our hair together!" I told her with a straight face, making Anna snicker.


	5. Chapter 5

**Enchanted Winter**

**I do not own Atlantis or Frozen.**

**SUMMARY:**

**After the sudden and tragic death of their mother, Elsa and Anna go off on an adventure to look for their fathers…**

_England, 1917_

"What opera are we going to see?" Anna asked Robert when we got to the opera house.

Robert chuckled as he offered us his arm.

"We are going to see _The Gambler_ written by Sergei Prokofiev- it's quite new," he added in hastily as Anna and I exchanged looks with one another.

"It isn't by any chance based off the story by the same name written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky?" I asked Robert, making sure that I pronounced his name correctly.

"I do believe so," Robert told me as we climbed a winding staircase to get to our seats. "If I'm not mistaken, then I do believe that I have the book somewhere in my library- I can't remember where, but I do know that it's somewhere…"

"Do not fret so, Robert." Anna patted his arm. "Elsa and I can look for it!"

I grinned at her and she returned the look. Robert seemed happy as we settled into our seats in our own private box.

"Robert, could you please kindly remind Anna and I what it is that you do for a living?" I asked him curiously. I saw my younger sister perk up when I mention his job.

"I work in the trading industry managing stock share holds and such," he explained. "It's rather complicated- I don't believe that either of you would understand it that well."

Instead of taking offence as I might have done, I just let the comment fly by my head as I pulled out my new opera glasses and fixated them onto the stage, picking out the details in the heavy red velvet curtains before darting down to the orchestra pit, where there were different sounds coming out as they tuned up for the show.

I leaned back just as they began the opening number and the curtains few up, revealing the scene.

I settled myself down for an enjoyable night.

~xoXox~

"That was amazing!" Anna was gushing three hours later after the opera had ended and Robert had taken us out for a treat. "If only I could sing that high…"

"Anna, don't force your voice to do something it's not trained to do," I clucked at her, making a motion at my nose. My clumsy, talkative sister had whipped cream on her nose!

"Your sister is right, Anna," Robert gently wiped the whipped cream off her nose with a napkin. "You shouldn't push yourself too hard."

Anna sulked for a moment before perking up.

"Elsa can sing," she reported smugly.

"Oh?" Robert looked over at me with curiosity in his eyes.

"Just bedtime lullabies when Anna has trouble falling asleep," I quickly corrected her.

"I hear you every now and then, belting out a song like you were born to sing!" Anna ignored the glare I was sending her as she prattled on. "You do have a very nice- _**OUCH**_!" she yelped as I kicked her under the table in an effort to get her to stop talking about me.

"That's enough, Anna," I grumbled. "Besides, I think I inherited my voice from my dad, whoever he is- mom couldn't sing her way out of a dangerous situation!"

That shut Anna up.

We never talked about our fathers.

Ever.

Robert must've sensed the tension because he quickly switched the topic to summer, which was just right around the corner.

"I'll have to head to my office in Atlantis for a few weeks at least," he sighed, picking his glasses off her face and rubbing his eyes. "I love Atlantis, but the paperwork that greets me there is overwhelming as anything else!"

Atlantis.

That perked Anna and I up.

We had heard tales of the lost empire, founded by a team of unlikely people, and had always wanted to go visit, only the price of going would had costed mom three years worth of earnings, and that was without spending money on food and clothes while living in Egypt.

"Tell you what- why don't we make a vacation out of it?" he suggested to our joy. Anna squealed and hugged him with I smiled and nodded.

"That does sound rather lovely!" I exclaimed with joy as Robert looked up at me through Anna's enthusiastic hug.

"Then it's settled." Robert stood, signaling that it was time to go back to his manor for some sleep. "Tomorrow, we can plan out our vacation, how does that sound?"


End file.
